appleskin
by UnluckyAmulet
Summary: Oneshot. In which Ichijou sprains her ankle and unapologetic fluffiness ensues. Imadori/Ichijou.


Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble! (If I did, though, that would be pretty cool.)

This is my first School Rumble fic. I think this pairings is adorable and it needs way more fanfics about it then it has. (It's my favourite in School Rumble, actually, with Harima/Tenma a close second.) Extremely fluffy.

Enjoy!

* * *

Ichijou Karen had always liked spring.

The air was thick with a scent of apples, a warm, comfortable atmosphere about this particular section of the woods. Ichijou wiped a hand across her forehead, because despite the fact she was working in the shade, it was still a hot spring day. The sun made the leaves glow a soft acidic green, like something out of a storybook. Ichijou reached up and grabbed another apple, pulling at it so the stem snapped clean, the fruit large and heavy in her hand.

In a sort of celebration of the upcoming spring break, the school had proposed a culture-fest. Class 2-C had been given the job of collecting fruit, as someone had come up with the idea for a new cafe that sold pastry and dessert exclusively. (With a side-order of cute waitresses, of course) And Ichijou Karen had been told to go pick apples. And she had ended up being paired with Imadori Kyosuuke. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to mind too much, as any excuse not to do work was good enough for him.

"Ne, Imadori-san-" began Ichijou, glancing behind her. That she started. "Imadori-san?"

"Ehhh? What?" groaned Imadori, slowly stretching. He blinked lazily a few times, rubbing at the corner of his eye with his knuckle, blonde hair sticking up slightly at the back.

"Have you been sleeping against that tree the entire time?" Ichijou asked, astonished that Imadori had only just woken up and that she hadn't even noticed. She had just assumed he was working, and since she had been too shy to talk to him first, she had simply carried on with what she was doing.

"What's the point in me doing it?" whined Imadori, yawning as he stood up, "You're nearly done anyway, right?"

"But we're supposed to have picked enough for two people!" wailed Ichijou, who was tired and quite exasperated by this point, "If you don't pick anything, that means I have to do your share of work too!"

"Ah, but you do it so much faster, Ichijou!" grinned Imadori, as though that made it okay. He stretched again, his elbow making a popping sound, "I'd just slow you down. Anyway, our shift's almost up, right? I'm gonna head back."

"Eh? B-but-"

"See ya, Ichijou!"

With that, Imadori took off, laughing to himself as he heard Ichijou chase after him, abandoning the sack she had been provided with to hold all the apples in to pursuit her errant partner,

"Wait, Imadori-san! We can't just- Ahh!"

Imadori paused at this, surprised by Ichijou's startled squeal and the loud 'thud' that followed it. Turning, he saw Ichijou lying on the floor, holding onto her ankle, a pained expression on her face. Unsure if this was a trick or not, he cautiously ventured closer,

"Ichijou?"

"Owww..." moaned Ichijou, biting down on her lip. She squeezed her calf, her eyes watering slightly at the pain. Seeing that she wasn't acting, Imadori came shuffling closer.

"Eh? What happened?" Imadori asked, blinking.

"I tripped on that tree root, I think..." muttered Ichijou, making Imadori feel bad without even really meaning to.

She was rubbing at her ankle, which was beginning to swell, turning a deep pink colour as Ichijou gently peeled back her sock to look at it. She felt mildly nauseated- her ankle was beginning to look like cooking dough and it was throbbing badly. She had never sprained anything before, not like this, anyway, and she couldn't believe how much it hurt.

"I-I'm sorry, Imadori-san," Ichijou mumbled, her face slowly being dyed crimson, both with embarassment and the effort not to cry, "B-but do you think you could go and get help? I think...my ankle, I think I've twisted it. I don't think I can put any weight on- Ahhh! W-what are you doing?!"

Suddenly, in an unexpected display of manly chivalry, Imadori had cut Ichijou off in mid-apologetic babble by leaning down and lifting Ichijou up into his arms, while Ichijou wondered if she had suddenly gone delirious with pain and was hallucinating the whole thing. It was a very nice hallucination.

"Sheesh, Ichijou!" Imadori sighed, as though she made him do it, "You're heavier then you look, you know."

"I-I'm sorry?" blurted out Ichijou, unsure how to really respond to that, "You could, um, put me down if I'm too heavy-"

"Don't underestimate me, Ichi-chan!" replied Imadori in a singsong voice. He paused for a second, looking down at Ichijou with a strange expression.

"W-what is it, Imadori-san?" inquired Ichijou nervously. Imadori's gaze was becoming oddly intense.

"Hey, Ichi-chan..." whispered Imadori, unusually serious.

"Yes?"

"Did your boobs get any bigger over the spring?"

"I-Imadori-san!" squealed Ichijou, blushing even further and flailing a little with embarrassment.

"Just kidding!" Imadori sniggered, amused at Ichijou's reaction, "And quit squirming around, Ichijou. I don't wanna drop you."

Ichijou stopped flailing quickly and silence fell. (She couldn't help doubting Imadori's supposed "strength". Actually, she was a little worried in regards to how long he could keep this up for.)

Sighing, Ichijou, feeling a sudden wave of fatigue wash over her, she put her head against Imadori's shoulder. If he was surprised, she didn't really notice. She suddenly felt completely exhausted, despite her throbbing ankle. Perhaps it was the humid conditions she'd been working in; maybe it was the newfound pain of her ankle. Or maybe it was even unintentionally getting so close to Imadori. Whatever it was, though, Ichijou Karen was just suddenly so hot and exhausted, she couldn't fight it anymore. And Imadori's shoulder was so comfy...very warm...he had surprisingly gentle hands...

_Mustn't fall asleep, mustn't fall asleep, mustn't-_ _...zzz..._

_

* * *

_

"Yes, it does look like a sprain..." mused Anegasaki-sensei, gently peeling back Ichijou's sock, showing the swollen ankle. "I'd better go get some ice...luckily, the swelling isn't too bad."

Here, Tae Anegasaki glanced up, smiling, at the rather weary-looking Imadori. Normally Imadori would have been up for a little flirting with the attractive nurse, but now that he was actually back at the school after carrying Ichijou all the way now, his arms aching, he only really wanted to know one thing;

"Ne, sensei, she'll be okay, right?"

"Yes, she'll be just fine. It was so nice of you to carry her all the way back here, Imadori-san!"

Imadori shrugged at the praise, flopping down into a chair next to the cot Ichijou is sleeping on. He was pretty amazed that she could still be asleep, even with Anegasaki-sensei poking at her ankle like that. He decided not to mention to the nurse that it was sort of his fault Ichijou sprained her ankle in the first place. He was about to say something as Anegasaki-sensei pressed an icy compress to Ichijou's swollen ankle when the screen door to the infirmary abruptly burst open, followed by the plaintive wail;

"Anegasaki-sensei! I think I have food poisoning!"

"Be right there!" called Anegasaki-sensei to the boy currently clutching his stomach and groaning dramatically. She turned to Imadori, smiling apologetically, "Sorry, Imadori-kun, I'll be back in a moment. You can go, if you like, she should wake up soon."

Imadori nodded, and Anegasaki went off to deal with the still-wailing student. He leant in a little and breathed in, smelled of apples. Apples and leaves and of clean air.

Imadori tilted her head, looking at her. She looked kind of cute, actually. He noticed she was wearing the little braid in her hair again, which made him smile without really knowing why. Despite the school uniform and the fact her ankle was twice as big as her other one, she looked like an illustration in a storybook. Now that he was leaning over her, he could also smell Ichijou's fruity lip-gloss, which was spread quite thinly over her lips, but it was there nonetheless. Kissable.

Then, without even really thinking about it, Imadori smiled and put his mouth to Ichijou's.

Ichijou, who had been slowly dancing on the brink of waking up anyway, was slightly irritated to be woken up from a very nice dream in which Imadori was kissing her.

Then she opened her eyes.

I-Imadori-san?

Imadori, apparently quite satisfied with himself, leant back in his chair, looking completely unabashed. Ichijou blushed a deep red, her own lips tingling with the brief contact.

"Imadori-san?" squeaked Ichijou, who couldn't really believe that had just happened. "W-What're you doing?

Imadori grinned, licking the fruity lip-gloss off his mouth. As he had suspected, it had tasted pretty good. In fact, he wouldn't mind having a second go. So with a shrug, he tilted his head slightly forwards and answered with a smile.

"I'm kissing it better."

* * *

Incidentally, I sprained my ankle pretty badly once and it REALLY REALLY HURTS when you do it. I looked like Bigfoot for about a week and could barely fit into any of my shoes. XD

Anyway, reviews would be luff!


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